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The Vintage Magic of Kuala Lumpur's Streets

Kuala Lumpur surprised me with its contrastful old busy neighbourhoods - which I still contemplate about to this day.
There's a certain "vintage magic" atmosphere on Kuala Lumpur's old historic streets, generated by the old shop houses with decaying walls with chipped paint, the spicy smells, the dust and the shadows of high buildings falling onto the narrow streets...

Kuala Lumpur requires time. You'll miss out on a lot if you just pin the main attractions.

I couldn't get enough of exploring the old neighbourhoods. In fact, exploring the old neighbourhoods was what I enjoyed the most.

Beautiful architecture is all around... And there's a strong vintage feel - generated by the old architectural motifs and the decaying old walls of some of the buildings.

Old buildings the bear Chinese, European (some even Art Nouveau elements!), Indian architectural elements... Several modern high-rise buildings are found scattered between the old dwellings.

Contemplating the visual contrast of KL's streets was an adventurous experience and so was avoiding the speedy motorbike riders who don't always distinguish the road from the sidewalk!

I walked for hours, photographing the buildings around me and it felt like no other city before.

Still, if I wanted to describe the atmosphere and the looks, the feel, I'd say...

The streets were dusty, buildings' designs varied quite a lot from the old Chinese merchants' buildings to some colonial British and modern ones here and there...

The air felt damp, but not as much as in wet hot Singapore (just a few days before).
Kuala Lumpur's weather was more tolerable.

All sorts of "things" were flying in the air: from alluring spicy smells to disgusting stinch and vehicle-burnt gas.

Architecturally, the old historic areas are blood-boiling exciting - as you can observe...

You can encounter Moorish, Tudor, but also Neo-Gothic and even Spanish and Art Nouveau styles in the Malaysian capital.

Let's not forget about the Moorish feel Old Train Station (which is a bit further from the old town core), I've also found small Christian churches bearing Gothic elements, but the Chinese architecture is predominant.

It stunned me that Art Nouveau even exists in KL (at least as an influence, as motifs) - too bad those buildings got away from my camera's lens.

As I was wandering on these old streets, I was frequently slammed by a wide array spicy smells from curry to chili and fried chicken.
The burnt gasoline "winds" and abundant motor oil smells only added to the "pleasure".

Obviously, all cities have their own attractions, but Kuala Lumpur is an unparalelled culturally mixed environment. So was Singapore too, but KL felt alive, organic. While Singapore felt "too perfect" and its old districts almost life-less, like museums.

The photo to the left reflects a slightly more European look (to me, at least - Europe comes to my mind).

Although the entire historic area felt like a labyrinth, I didn't get lost - to be honest, I sometimes enjoy getting lost! Provided that nothing dangerous happens.

I remember the time when I got lost in Marrakech almost a year before this trip.

Strangely, Kuala Lumpur bears plenty of similarities with Marrakech - I think it's especially because of the Muslim culture, the Islamic art's shapes on buildings.

The urban labyrinth and the dust in the air, the large number of motorcycles were also characteristic to Marrakech. So was the difficulty of crossing streets - in KL too, you risk your life trying to get across!

It's peculiar how two cities so far away from each other can have so much in common.
I can't help saying I sometimes felt similarly.

In order to enjoy KL the best, you must pick your accommodation well.
I was lucky enough to have stayed in the historic quarter at the Citin Masjid Jamek Hotel.

But, there was one important thing that I had to pay extra attention to when walking in the old neighbourhoods (Jalan Petaling, Medan Pasar, Pasar Seni, the Masjid Jamek areas particularly), where thieves and motorbikers or, the two combined (biker thieves) operate!

Pickpocketing and bag-snatching is (unfortunately) wide-spread in Malaysia and some thieves stalk and attack their victims using motorcycles.

The thieves shamelessly grab the target person's belongings like camera, bag or wallet and they ride away lightning-fast!
This reminds me to recommend you my tips on protecting your money when traveling abroad.

The biker thieves usually operate in pair. A bloke rides the motorcycle, while the other - the "grabber" - sits on the back of the seat.

A lighter vehicle is easier manoeuvred across the narrow agglomerated streets, so most of the time they use lighter scooters or enduro bikes.

The street seen on the photo to the right is a good example of a shadowy area - the ideal hunting ground for biker thieves.

On some of these streets I saw less people, but intense noisy motorbike traffic.

It's not just the biker thieves that can be dangerous: two-wheel vehicle riders wildly roam on the streets and they frequently jump up on the sidewalks.

I had at least one very wild experience when I was nearly knocked-off by a biker (an this happened while I was peacefully walking on the sidewalk!).
One wrong step and he would have run me over...

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